The Churches in Romford

There are several big churches in Romford. Some of them have a long and very interesting history that deserves to be noted.

The church of England’s St Edward the Confessor is probably the most popular church in town, even with people who are not religious. The church was built in the Gothic style and is to be found in the centre of Market Place. The current church was completed in 1849-50, but there has been an older church on exactly the same place at least since 1177. Today, in addition to being an active temple, it is also a Grade II listed building by the National Heritage List of England.

There is one more St Edward the Confessor in Romford, but this time it is a Roman Catholic church. This one was built with the purpose of replacing another structure that stood on the same place. It was built thanks to a money and land donation by the Twelfth Lord Petre, who was a member of one of the most prominent Roman Catholic families in England in the 19th Two major addition have been made after the completion of the church in 1854. A gallery was added to the west in 1917. The North Chapel was built in 1934. The exterior of the church is particularly interesting, because it is fashioned after the 13th century English Gothic style, despite being built in the 19th century. Particularly interesting are the red-tiled roof and the central wooden belfry.

By the middle of the 19th century the population of Romford started to grow so fast that the two already existing churches were simply not enough to service all those who wanted to pray or be present at a liturgy. This became the reason the Saint Andrew’s Church was built. The church was completed in 1861 or 1862 (the records are uncertain) and was designed by one John Johnson, who was the same architect responsible for the original church of England’s temple in town, the aforementioned St Edward the Confessor.

Romford is of course home to a Methodist church as well. That is the Trinity Methodist Church. The red-brick building was completed in 1888. There were many problems for the church ever since it has been built, including major disasters of various nature. For starters, the whole church was flooded in the first year after its completion. The building was severely damaged during the 8/9 December 1940 bombings and then again, it caught fire on Christmas Eve 1980 – it turn out it was an arson plot and the Trinity Methodist Church was to be completely destroyed if it was not for a police officer who was passing by just when the fire caught and managed to call the fire brigade on time.

The last major church in Romford that we are going to mention here is the Salem Baptist Chapel. It is interesting to say that despite naming it last, the Baptist chapel is actually the oldest of the present day churches in Romford, because it was completed in 1847. The land on which the building was erected was auctioned in 1839 and on the following year the Meeting Room (today, the Church Parlour) was opened. The existence of Salem Baptist Chapel became possible thanks to Mr George Gould, who was a Baptist and owner of the land and who sold two plots fronting the London road which were intended for the erection of the chapel. 300 pounds were raised as means of funding for the project and mortgage was also drawn in order to complete the funding.